A New York man with special needs is taking action after he says he was denied a job with the Transportation Security Administration because of his disability.
Michael Costantino, 32, applied to work as a security officer for the TSA, but says he was turned down after undergoing a physical exam.
The reason: he was born with only one hand.
Costantino says that TSA officials passed him up for employment without even testing to determine if he could handle the tasks of the job — which involves patting-down air passengers and screening luggage.
Now, Costantino has retained a lawyer who’s filing complaints with the TSA and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and alleges that the agency “made an assumption” about Costantino’s ability to do the job.
TSA officials are largely keeping mum about the case, but say that they do have the right under federal law to require security officers to “meet certain physical standards,” reports MSNBC. To read more click here.
It is high time we stuck it to the man. We want jobs too.
Keep on fighting them Mike, not only were you a good boxer but you were also an excellent soccer player.
I recently went through the hiring process for TSA, almost to the end. There is nothing in the extensive testing process that a single-handed person would be unable to do. And of course a single-handed person could scan a bag or do a body-scan or check IDs or even lift heavy bags, among some of the other TSA duties. But a single-handed person **might** be at a disadvantage if dealing with an unruly or violent person, and that is a possibility in that job. As the mother of a person with right-affected CP, I do not think that would be a possible job for her, just as being in the military is not be possible, either.
I do not think this is a case of discrimination, from the information given here. It may be hard to accept, but there ARE some things that not everyone can physically do, whether it is a recognized disability or not.
@ GmaSuzy: Wow! It never ceases to amazing me how we continually attempt to determine the capabilities of any given person with a disability. It saddens me to know that you have such little faith in your own child’s abilities or anyone else’s for that matter. The whole idea is absurd for anyone to determine these findings other than that individual. It might not be done as fast or in the same fashion that we might might like, however to tell someone that they cannot do something without being granted the opportunity to try is absolutely distressing and is the precise reason why stigma, ignorance and discrimination continue in our modern “civilization”.
TSA x federal employee TSO has reinstatement rights, trained and hired to work as a TSO. Beware of exposing your disability to federal agancies if it’s not noticeable. Be very careful Now TSA Comprehensive Medical Exam division which is a sub contractor to TSA is NOW making my slight disability an issue creating barriers to not rehire me. My disability has not nor would not pose a risk of harm to the nation’s seccurity. I can perform the job and and have. CME creats rules as they go. I confronted them to why they are making my disability a issues now when they TSA Headquarters were aware of it before they hired me. THERE reply “We are not a liberty to discuss it”! WHY NOT it’s about me what are you hiding ? The fight is still going on and i may lose becasue they have written the rules of the game to accommodate there needs only !! Be very careful
I just underwent virtually the same experience. After a ten month wait list and a month long hiring process, I received a notice of Medical Failure, based on a single issue: I was born with only two fingers on my right hand. The day before receiving this notice I received a phone call asking if I had full feeling, strength, and mobility in my hand– all of which were resounding positives. It was a shock to receive a very terse, rather offensive statement saying in affect that I was limited in all these areas, and was unable to complete those “duties” for just those reasons. Apparently whoever read my file decided they know more about my abilities than I do. It felt like being called a liar and a cripple, for the first time in my life. I have six black belts in three different arts and train in a fourth, have worked armed security for three years, played sports, wrote a book, worked jobs that involved fine details with both hands– the first look anyone gives me when I tell them this judgement is one of incredulity, that anyone could be so naive and discriminating, to judge a person’s life and abilities based on a piece of paper and a different body type, rather than even checking the abilities being denied. I have always had faith in my country and people in general to improve upon the discrimination and actions of the past. This event… has left my faith wavering.